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NFL Draft: What Titans Coach Brian Callahan and GM Ran Carthon Say About First-Round Pick JC Latham
Addressing a priority need on the offensive line, the Tennessee Titans selected Alabama's JC Latham with the No. 7 overall pick. "We're going to start him at left tackle," Titans general manager Ran Carthon said.
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans love Alabama offensive tackle JC Latham, their first pick Thursday night in the 2024 NFL Draft.
How much do they love him? According to one report, the 6-foot-6, 342-pound Latham is offensive line coach Bill Callahan's favorite player in the entire draft.
Here is a transcript of coach Brian Callahan and general manager Ran Carthon's remarks after the Titans made their draft pick.
Latham will play left tackle
CARTHON: "Yes. We're going to start him at left tackle. He's played right tackle at Bama. I know he's practiced at left tackle. He's taken reps there. So it's not foreign to him. But yeah, he's going to start off at left for us."
Offensive line coach Bill Callahan influenced the pick
BRIAN CALLAHAN: "There's a precedent. I mean, guys have played right and played left and made the switch. It's not super uncommon. I mean, it's happened before. So we had a comfort level with the player and the athlete and what he's capable of. And so, having him go to left and start out there—and look, if he doesn't feel comfortable there, it doesn't look right and look natural, move him back to right. Like I said the other day, you need tackles, period. So, it doesn't really affect us one way or the other which tackles he plays. He's just a really strong, powerful, big, athletic human. There's not a lot of guys that look like him on Earth. So, we like that."
Right tackle? Left tackle? Time will tell
CALLAHAN: "We have guys on a roster that we like. We're not done adding players if we feel like we need to find someone somewhere else. It's just part of the process. We picked the best tackle that we felt like was available to us. Like I said, whether he plays right or left remains to be seen. But we're going to start him at left."
CARTHON: "We're going to draft the people where we pick, but that doesn't mean player acquisitions' over. So we're going to continue to look to improve just the whole roster as a whole. Like I said, I have all the confidence in the world in the kid that he's going to figure it out just because of his make-up, who he is as a human, who he is as an athlete, who he is as a football player. But we're going to always look to continue to add to our roster."
Left tackles on free-agent market
CARTHON: "Yeah, there are a ton of guys on the street that have played a ton of ball that are available to us. But like Coach said, we have guys on our roster that we like. We have guys that we're excited to work with. We just met, I think it was the night before last, just getting Coach Bill's (Callahan), his thoughts on the guys that he's working with and he's excited about working with some of these guys and playing them along. And if you know his track record, no matter what position is your primary position, you're going to learn other positions. I mean, if you look back to even last year, Nick Petit-Frere had primarily been a right tackle here for us. And, in the spur of the moment, he kicked over and played left for us. So, all that versatility helps us."
Bill Callahan's feedback on Latham
BRIAN CALLAHAN: "He liked him a lot. He's big. He's powerful. He's a really good athlete for his size, and he's got gigantic hands. He's got great anchor. There's a lot of things that he has that not a lot of people have, with his combination of size and athletic ability. So those things, as an offensive line coach, you get excited about and those are all the things that he really liked about him."
CARTHON: "When you guys meet him, shake his hand. That's a challenge."
Did Titans consider trading back? Not really
CARTHON: "No, we had a ton of calls. And I'm looking up at the screen now and seeing Minnesota trade up a spot. But we had calls. But as we were sitting there, we were looking at the board, and like I said, we've worked through this. We knew who was going to be available to us when we picked. And so we made the pick and we just let those teams know that unless it was an offer that was going to blow us away, it wasn't worth making a move."
Did Titans expect Alt to Chargers? Yes
CARTHON: "Yeah. I mean, we study this. Draft season didn't just start this week. And so, we had a really good sense of what, I would say, the top 16 would be doing, above and below us, so we can position ourselves. And so, we had a pretty good feel for how it was going to go."
Titans wouldn't move off Latham
CARTHON: "If there was such a list, he was on it."
Any thought of drafting another position need? No
CARTHON: "No, I mean, again, it's about the way you grade the players and how you see them. We talked about it earlier, the vertical board, the horizontal board. But we also went through and just ranked our top 100, our top 50, so you know how we have guys positioned. And so, when you have a player of that caliber that's available to you at seven, it's not worth the risk of hoping someone else will be there because you're not in control of who's going to come up and who's going to take who. And so, we felt comfortable with where we were to make the pick. Kind of like the same thing last year with Peter (Skoronski). He was a part of that group of guys that we thought would be available within those four picks, and he was available for us, and so we made the pick."
Latham enthusiastic about switch to left tackle
CALLAHAN: "Oh, very. He sees himself as a left tackle. I mean, they all do. But he felt like the way that it happened at Alabama, they were trying to get their best five, and he was comfortable moving and playing on the right side. He was a left tackle in high school. So that part of it, he almost expected it, which is the attitude you want guys to have. I think he possesses the requisite traits to do it. There's not going to be too many guys that are going to turn down a chance to play on the left side either. They all think they can do it. So I think he's fully capable of it."
Differences between left and right tackle play
CALLAHAN: "It's all the same traits. It's just a matter of just switching his stance and then kicking a different way. That's really the crux of it. It's how comfortable can you be switching your stance and move in a different direction, versus one that you've repped quite a bit over your time. So, it'll be a comfort thing for him more than anything else and for us. But he presents all the traits that you want in a tackle and right or left, he can—he's got the traits to do either one. And that part of it, I think is exciting. And I think he feels the same way, which it's always good when a guy wants to prove that they can do the thing that you're asking him to do."
Left side of offensive line can be dominant
CARTHON: "I'm super excited. Super excited to get these rookies now, whenever we're allowed to, to get these guys on the field with the vets. Our vets have been putting in some unbelievable work. And just seeing those guys, even during the minicamp, just seeing all those guys in there together was a pretty cool thing to see. And we talked about it like adding this rookie class once we're done to that, I'm excited to get all those guys out there on the field. And now you know get Coach back to doing what he loves to do which is coaching ball. "
Latham's size and athleticism
CALLAHAN: "Fantastic. I mean he's like I said, there's not many people that walk the earth that are his height and weight and can move at his fluidity. He's a really unique player which is why he gets picked in the top seven picks of the draft. I'm just—I can't wait to get him out there. He makes us a physically imposing, really left side of our offensive line when you put him with Peter (Skoronski) and Cush (Lloyd Cushenberry) and those guys. We've kind of taken some nice steps into really improving that unit. "
Latham's penalties
CALLAHAN: "It depends on what they are. I mean there's unforced errors which those are easily fixable. Holding calls, things like that, that's usually a technique issue. Those things are very fixable. I don't worry too much about that. I mean L'Jarius Sneed had a lot of penalties, too. It didn't bother me any either. So, just the way it is, part of the game. But you can fix a lot. You can fix a lot of technique issue things. And sometimes you don't have any control over a particular flag. But I don't have any reservations about that. "
Latham's personality
CARTHON: "I would say, he's a fun-loving person. When you first see him, when he first walks into this room, I think tomorrow. Right Robbie? Tomorrow? You're going to see this large human, and then you have to come to the thought that he's just 21 years old. So, he's like the typical 21-year-old. He's fun. He's got jokes. He's just going to be a fun-loving dude. He's going to fit into our locker room seamlessly. "
CALLAHAN: "He loves playing football, which is a huge part of it, too. Holds himself to a high standard. Takes a lot of pride playing at Alabama, doing the things that they've done. And I think that part of it is exciting, too, that he's a guy that is willing to do all the things you need him to do to be a great player, and he's got a chance to be a great player. "
Looking ahead to Round 2
CARTHON: "We're sitting—once we get up, I'm looking over the shoulder now, just seeing who Minnesota picked, kind of playing it all in my head of who's going to be available. But we came in with a targeted plan. We should have some guys available to us that we like that we figure should be there. But of course, as this thing shakes, there's going to be a couple surprises as we get to the back end of guys being taken that you may or may not have accounted for. So, we'll play the board. But we have some targeted guys that we'd like to see there at 38. "
Pass blocking vs. run blocking
CALLAHAN: "Yeah, I mean those guys are really well coached coming out of Alabama. Good coaches there. Good scheme, pro systems, pro technique, pro coaches. So yeah, I think he's in a really good spot. There's not a lot of things about him—not that he doesn't have areas to improve everybody does—but he has a background and requisite fundamental background that I think would translate to him being able to have a pretty nice immediate impact for us. "
Taking a tackle instead of a receiver
CALLAHAN: "We're at a point where we went out and signed a receiver that I think is going to really complement our group well. And you got Hop (DeAndre Hopkins), who's been a productive player for a long time. So, I felt like if we can keep our quarterback on his feet, we're going to have a better chance to get those guys the ball. And, for where we are now and what we needed that was the perfect fit."
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